When serving certain foods in a home environment, it is desirable to maintain an appropriate temperature of the food to maintain the palatability of the food and to prevent the development of unsafe biological conditions. Specifically, if certain foods are maintained at temperatures between about 40° F. and about 140° F. for several hours, consumption of that food may present a high risk of food borne illness. In certain situations, prepared foods will be set out for a number of hours in order to stage a large or complex meal or allow people to eat when they are ready.
A number of solutions exist for home use, but each has disadvantages. Some of these solutions are electric warming plates, electric warming drawers, and hot water baths heated by self-contained alcohol burners. In commercial environments, heat lamps are frequently used for this purpose, but commercial heat lamps are generally incompatible with a residential environment because of size, weight, lack of adjustability, non-portability and other factors.